The present invention is directed to a device and a method of dispensing and determining the number of articles, such as drugs or other items, dispensed.
Historically, prescriptions are filled using one of two different methods. According to one method, a pharmacist hand dispenses the required drugs from a bulk supply. There are obvious advantages to this method. For narcotics and other stringently controlled drugs, the pharmacist can use his/her discretion to count and possibly recount the dispensed pills to ensure accuracy. Unfortunately, this method's quality and accuracy are highly dependant on the individual pharmacist. The method is very labor intensive and subject to human inaccuracies. It is time consuming because the pharmacist typically must locate the drug, open the bulk supply (e.g., stock bottle), pour out a rough amount of the drug, hand count the specific number of pills required for the prescription, possibly recount the pills, gather the selected pills, place the pills into the prescription pill bottle, vial, or other container, place the non-prescribed pills back into the bulk supply, locate the lid and cap the bulk supply, return the bulk supply to the shelves, and label and cap the bottle, vial, or other container. Each of these steps is affected by the speed and accuracy of the pharmacist and varies among pharmacists and for an individual pharmacist over the course of the day, week, or month.
The second method of dispensing pills entails using an automated prescription dispensing or filling apparatus. Automated prescription dispensing devices are generally more consistent and accurate than pharmacists, but there are several disadvantages to those presently on the market. Most of those devices dispense pills at one constant rate, either fast or slow. Fast (or bulk) dispensing entails the movement of more than one pill at a time from an article storage container into a receptacle. Slow dispensing entails the movement of fewer pills at a time from an article storage container into a receptacle. Singulation of the items enables the movement of one pill at a time from a storage container to a receptacle.
Bulk dispensing has an obvious speed advantage, which translates into cost and efficiency advantages. The disadvantages of bulk dispensing arise in the counting of the dispensed pills. Most pill dispensers work in association with a pill counting apparatus. Contemporary technological and cost limitations imposed upon standard pill counting apparatus translate into decreased count accuracy with increased dispensing speed.
Singulation, and the attendant slower dispensing rates, results in decreased speed and perhaps decreased cost and efficiency, but count accuracy increases greatly when only one pill at a time moves past a counting device. This is important for the success of all pill dispensing, pill counting, and prescription filling technologies, but it is essential to the successful dispensing of highly controlled drugs.
Therefore, one problem facing the pharmacy, healthcare and other industries today, is how to combine the speed of bulk dispensing with the count accuracy of singulation. Another problem centers on the pharmacy's need to track what drug (type, brand, lot, etc.) is in which storage container, who replenished the container, when the container was replenished, the inventory level at the time of replenishment and who dispensed the product. Also, automated dispensing systems need to be usable by lesser-skilled employees. Often a technician, not a pharmacist, is called upon to operate, clean or repair the counting and dispensing system. Thus, the automated counting and dispensing system should be intuitive and easy to use. The need exists for a counting and dispensing system that satisfies these needs.